Robert Lefcourt
General Robert Lefcourt was a veteran Earthforce officer and one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at Earthdome. He served in the Dilgar War, the Earth-Minbari War and the Earth Alliance Civil War. He was also an old friend of the Earth diplomat David Sheridan. History Waking the Dragon In 2245, Lefcourt and Presidential Aide Hastur arranged a meeting with Londo Mollari, Earth's Centauri liaison to the Republic's delegation. The pair requested any information the Centauri Republic might have on the Minbari, a race which at that time was largely unknown to Earth, to see if they posed a threat to Earth's new expansionist plans. Mollari advised Lefcourt that if they were serious about sending an expedition into Minbari space, to send only a single ship, so as not to provoke them. Lefcourt ignored his advise, saying that Earth could handle the Minbari just as they handled the Dilgar. While putting the expedition together, Lefcourt offered Lieutenant Commander John Sheridan the post of first officer of the [[EAS Prometheus|EAS Prometheus]] and was quite annoyed when Sheridan turned it down, citing concerns over Captain Jankowski's reputation and his loyalty to Captain Sterns. Sheridan's concerns proved to be well founded as Jankowski's mission turned into a disaster, precipitating the Earth-Minbari War. In 2247, shortly after congratulating Sheridan on the destruction of the Black Star, Lefcourt conceded that Sheridan had been right to stay where he was. Lefcourt then went on to send Sheridan and Dr. Stephen Franklin on a secret mission to the Epsilon System in Sector 919 with Narn Ambassador G'Kar where they were to secretly meet with Lenonn, a representative of the Minbari government.In the Beginning A Terrible Day During the Earth Alliance Civil War, Lefcourt remained loyal to EarthForce, believing that "a soldier doesn't take up arms against his own government, no matter how justified he feels doing so." In November 2261, Lefcourt took command of the [[EAS Apollo|EAS Apollo]] during the final battle of the war. He was chosen due to his uncompromising loyalty to the Earth Alliance and the fact that his current enemy was his old Academy star pupil John Sheridan. Knowing how he thinks and fights gave some insight into how Sheridan would conduct himself and his ships in battle. Nevertheless, he found no joy in the thought of having to kill his former protege. He dismissed ground attacks on Mars as a simple diversion and forbade his fleet to assist. He was unprepared however for the internal sabotage of the Apollo's computer systems and that of the rest of his fleet, by a group of Shadow-altered telepaths that Sheridan's forces had smuggled aboard to disable the ships. After the Apollo was repaired during the subsequent Liberation of Earth, Lefcourt brought the ship to Earth in time to destroy an orbital weapon platform (which President Morgan Clark had targeted towards Earth), thus saving Sheridan who was about to ram the platform with the crippled [[EAS Agamemnon|EAS Agamemnon]]. Despite their earlier hostilities, Lefcourt then welcomed Sheridan home.Endgame References Lefcourt, Robert Lefcourt, Robert Lefcourt, Robert Lefcourt, Robert Lefcourt, Robert Lefcourt, Robert Lefcourt, Robert